Tories urge NHS entitlement card

Tories called today for the introduction of a "health entitlement card" to prevent the problem of so-called health tourism.

Shadow health secretary Liam Fox said the NHS was becoming "the health equivalent of Disneyland for tourists" because so many people - including hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers - were coming from abroad to get free treatment.

Demanding that NHS patients produce a card proving that they are entitled to treatment would ensure that British citizens were not forced to wait for care by foreigners who had not contributed to paying for the system through their taxes, he said.

Under the Tory scheme, anyone unable to produce an entitlement card when seeking NHS treatment would be open to investigation by the Immigration Service.

Dr Fox said that his proposal would provide a major deterrent to misuse of the NHS, but would not be unfair. People needing emergency treatment would not be required to show a card before receiving care, he stressed.

There had been cases of pregnant women coming from abroad to give birth in the UK and of asylum-seekers with kidney problems specifically targeting Britain because they believe they will receive free treatment for their condition, he said.

At the moment, asylum seekers are entitled to full access to the NHS from the moment they claim asylum.

Dr Fox said: "It is just open house on the British taxpayer, and the NHS is becoming the health equivalent of Disneyland for tourists.

"We have a healthcare system that is already working at full capacity. We are giving preference to people who have not contributed to the NHS at the expense of those who have.

"Hundreds of thousands of people who have failed the asylum process are trying to use our healthcare system. This means British citizens already waiting for treatment have to wait longer."